(from a 1999 GA address by the Rev. Cynthia Breen,
director of the UUA Department of Religious Education)

Why do so many congregations view sexuality education
as part of their mission? For a variety of reasons. Let me share some of
them with you here.

• First, congregations recognize that sexuality
education is too important to ignore. I don’t need to tell you that popular
culture doesn’t always show the values that we would like our children
to learn! One example: a survey of 1,351 randomly selected television shows
by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation found that over the course of
one week, 56 percent of all tv programs, and 67 percent of prime time programs,
contained sexual content, yet only one in ten such shows mentioned contraception,
safe sex, or the possibility of delaying sexual activity.

• Second, sexuality education in secular settings,
like schools, doesn’t necessarily support our values. For example, a study
of secondary school health educators found that only 46 percent teach about
sexual orientation at all, and that 91 percent of those devote less than
two class periods to the topic. Thirty-three percent even felt that gay
and lesbian rights are a threat to the American family and its values.
Those views should not be the primary ones our children hear.

• A fourth reason that churches undertake sexuality
education is that it gives us a place to put our values into practice.
Participants can learn to develop and articulate their religious and sexual
values and to make responsible, healthy decisions based on those values.
Learning this in the context of religious community makes sense.

• Fifth, sexuality education, done correctly,
supports families. We know that during and after sexuality education, parent-child
communication rises. Our Whole Lives creates a partnership between
the family and the church through parent orientation and parent education
programs. It helps UU parents fulfill their role as the primary educators
of their children on sexuality issues.

• Sixth, sexuality itself is religious. Sexuality
is about values, respect, emotions, and justice. Sexuality is sacred, part
of the miracle of creation. This is why we do sexuality education in church:
because sexuality is sacred, and sexuality education is ministry.